Our crew

Leg 1: Brest – La Coruña (Gulf of Biscay)

Prof. Dr. Jean-Pierre HenrietGeologist/Geophysicist, professor UGent (head of RCMG)
“My name is Jean-Pierre Henriet, and I am professor in Marine Geology and Geophysics at Ghent University. When I was 14, I saw a film sponsored by BP in the framework of the International Geophysical Year, at the end of the fifties. It showed a bold transantarctic expedition surveying the ice continent with rugged vehicles and seismics. So I dreamt of rugged explorations and remote horizons, and wrote to BP asking how you could become a seismic explorer, and how you get to the Antarctic. I received a detailed, two-page long personal reply, tracing the way to careers in the exploration of our planet with geophysics, in particular in the upcoming offshore industry. Preferring basic science, I became a 'science exploration geophysicist', went to the ocean and to the Antarctic, hunting for provocating questions. Now I am the proud 'boss' of a scientific dream team - RCMG - a nest of young sea eagles stretching their wings over the seven oceans. They are eager to share their passion. So don't be shy, just write if you want to know more about the exploration of the ocean (but do not expect two pages automatically, times have changed…), and share our action through Class@Oceans.”

Wim VersteegGeophysicist, scientific personnel (RCMG)
My main interests are the aquisition and processing of high-resolution seismics at rivers, lakes and oceans. Also the development of new technics/methods in this area has my interest. The last years I'll put a lot of effort in the purchase and development of our new ROV-system, which will be used on this survey. Main focus on this survey for me is the installation, deployment/recovering and piloting of our ROV-Genesis on the RV Belgica. Also the integration of new developed tools will be tested during this survey.

Lies De Mol
Marine geologist, PhD student IWT (RCMG)
“Hi, I’m Lies. I’m a PhD student at the Renard Centre of Marine Geology (Ghent University). The main objective of my PhD is to study the cold-water coral mounds in the El Arraiche mud volcano field in the Gulf of Cadiz and the cold-water corals in the Gulf of Biscay and Galicia Bank, based on multibeam/side-scan sonar data, seismic, ROV images (habitat mapping) and boxcores/gravity cores. On board, I will be responsible for the scientific part of the ROV and the sampling. I will also assist in planning and carrying out any other work during the watches.”

Hans Pirlet
Marine geologist, PhD student FWO (RCMG)
“Hello, I am Hans Pirlet, a PhD-student at the Renard Centre of Marine Geology studying cold-water coral mounds. Being a marine geologist, I am mainly interested in the sedimentology of these huge reef-structures. My area of interest is located in the Porcupine Seabight, SW of Ireland, but I am looking forward to see how the coral communities look like in the Gascogne-region. For this particular Belgica campaign, I will help out with the seismics and boxcores.”

Frédéric QuémerraisGeologist, PhD student (IFREMER, France)

Dr. Jens GreinertGeologist, Marie Curie post-doctoral (RCMG)
“My name is Jens Greinert; I am a marine geologist and I work at RCMG as part of a Marie Curie Fellowship. Originally I am from Germany but I spent two years in New Zealand before I came to Belgium last September. I am interested in cold seeps and methane fluxes from these seeps into the water and finally into the atmosphere. I have been doing this kind of studies for the last 13 years at many different places all over the world (e.g. offshore the US, New Zealand, in the Sea of Okhotsk or the Black Sea). During the cruise I will be involved in multibeam mapping (processing the data and making maps) as well as the underwater navigation of the ROV and visual characterization of the seafloor.”

Dries BooneElectronic engineer ROV, technical personnel (RCMG)

Jeroen VercruysseElectronic engineer ROV, technical personnel (RCMG)

Koen De RyckerSeismic engineer, technical personnel (RCMG)
“Hi there, I am Koen, one of the engineers of the RCMG. Since more than 10 years I have been working at the institute, performing surveys all around the world, with all kinds of equipment (geophysical, ROV, TV-frame...). My tasks on this campaign are, together with my friends and colleague-engineers, first to get and keep the ROV-system fully operational and running, and take part in the several aspects of the control, secondly to do the same for the Seismic apparatus, and thirdly to help in any other kind of technical or logistical artifact.”

Arne BaeyensElectronic engineer ROV, technical personnel (RCMG)
“Hello, my name is Arne and I am one of the ROV engineers at the RCMG. Two years ago, I graduated as an electromechanical engineer, after which I decided to do something completely different and go for a one year study in Marine and Lacustrine Sciences. It was during this year that Prof. Henriet offered me a chance to do my master thesis on the ROV of Ghent University. And after that… Well, I kind of sticked around. Currently, I am mainly going over the mechanical aspects of the ROV. This means the positioning (and occasionally designing) of scientific equipment, and general maintenance of the vehicle. During the Belgica cruise, I will also be one of the ROV operators.”

Leg 2: La Coruña – Zeebrugge (Galicia Bank)

Prof. Dr. Ann VanreuselMarine biologist, professor UGent (MarBiol)

Ellen PapeMarine biologist, PhD student (MarBiol)
“Hello, I’m Ellen. I’m a PhD-student at the Marine Biology Section of Ghent University. My main interests lie in indentifying the role of nematodes in the carbon-flow through deep-sea sediments and unraveling the link between this function and nematode biodiversity. During this Belgica campaign, my colleagues and I will take sediment samples at the Galicia Bank by means of a MUC which will be analyzed later on for community structure and fatty acid composition of the nematodes (the latter gives more information on the diet). Besides sampling, we will also conduct two experiments. For the first experiment, we will deploy an experimental unit on the seabed using the ROV in which oxygen-poor substrates will be offered to the local nematodes. We are wondering if and by which nematodes these substrates will be colonized. In a second experiment on board, we will investigate whether and how fast the deep-sea nematodes feed upon food labeled with 13C which we will offer them. This is my first scientific campaign and I’m really excited!”

Lies De Mol -> Leg 1

Guy De SmetResearch assistant (MarBiol)

Bart BeuselinckResearch assistant (MarBiol)

Dr. Hendrik GheerardynBiologist (MarBiol)

Dries Boone -> Leg 1

Wim Versteeg -> Leg 1

Arne Baeyens -> Leg 1

Christoph PlumMarine biologist, Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, Dep. DZMB (German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research), Wilhelmshaven, Germany
“Hello, I am Christoph and I am a marine biologist at the Senckenberg Institute. At the moment I am studying marine benthic copepods (Kope = Greek for “oar” Podos = Greek for “foot”) from the Great Meteor-Bank, a giant seamount south of the Azores. My colleagues and I are studying the geographical and bathymetrical distribution of specific copepod species at seamounts. To increase our knowledge about the benthic copepod communities at seamounts we try to find answers to the following questions: Is there a bathymetric exchange at seamounts? Is there any indication for a geographic exchange between single seamounts and/or nearby shallow waters? How is the structure of the copepod community? Are there many endemic species? During the campaign I will take meiofauna samples with the aid of a special meiofauna sampling gear called Multicorer (MUC). The samples will be fixed on board and sort out later in the laboratory.”

Maria DruetGeologist, PhD student, Instituto Español de Oceanografia (Spanish Oceanographic Institution)
“My research activities focus on the morphostructure and deep structure of the continental margin of Galicia (Spain). The techniques I’m using include multibeam bathymetric mapping, gravity and geomagnetic data processing and modelling, and parametric echo-sounding profiling. During this cruise, I’ll be taking part in the watches with all the other participants on the survey. This may include multibeam and parametric echo-sounding acquisition.”